5.3 Liter question
 

I have a 5.3 Liter in my Chevrolet truck, best vehicle I have ever owned. I was driving it today and out of the blue the valves started clattering and the oil pressure dropped. I whipped into a parts store, checked the oil level, perfect. Got back in the truck, refired, quiet as a church mouse.

Driving it home, did it again. pressure dropped, clatter, stopped, refired, nothing.

Motor about to take a dump? 250K miles, I have put every mile on it. I like it better than my other truck and hate to see it crap out. It has been meticoulously maintained, but I guess every dog has it's day.

Anyone here have a same LS based problem like this?

I'd put my money on a sticky relief valve. Fix it before you ruin the engine.

x2 on the oil pump. It's on the front of the crank snout. Not the most fun thing to go at but not terrible.

Bingo. Many(6 in 3 mos time) of these came into the dealership I worked at. All high mile rigs. My own truck has 178k on it now and has not done that yet, but I almost expect it to. The 5.3s are great, I love mine. If you take care of it soon you should get a lot more miles out of it.:thumbsup:

Had the oil changed and that did the trick! Thanks guys. I went on ahead and purchased the oil pump just in case.

Preciate it fellas.:thumbsup:

For now.....

I'd be stoked if my Tahoe's 5.3 lasts 250k.....

when you change out the oilpump.. be sure to change out the pickup-tube o-ring.. even if it looks fine it can be alittle leaky allowing air into the oil.. giving all sorts of funny noises..

and its not a small deal to change out the pump btw... the ballancer is press on, so you need a puller and installer.. and the ballancer bolt is torque to yield.. and when you are in there anyway install a new ls6 chain...

Thanks for all the input. I purchased a used 5.3 for $300.00 plus a 72 SS hood (GM piece) off a 67k mile wrecked tahoe JUST IN CASE.